défend
\de.fɑ̃\
The verdict
“défend” has 10 generated spelling variants in the French index at frequency #3,750. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #3,750
- frequency rank, French
- 404,891
- “D” headwords
- 10
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de défendre.
Corpus desk
Index FR-defend · défend · French
défend · rank #3,750 · 10 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-COMMON #3,750
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 10 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 404,891
- PHOTO-FINISH dommages
Nearest frequency peer: dommages (-1 rank slots)
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
Frequency neighbourhood for “défend”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- croyais
croyais
96,254 corpus weight
- Dominique
Dominique
96,253 corpus weight
- dommages
dommages
96,252 corpus weight
- défend
défend
96,251 corpus weight
- désert
désert
96,250 corpus weight
- déçu
déçu
96,249 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “défend” sits against the nearest ranked French headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | défend |
| Language | French |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | \de.fɑ̃\ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #3,750 |
| Misspellings tracked | 10 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “défend” sits in French frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 10 spelling variants around défend (IPA \de.fɑ̃\), averb. Corpus frequency is #3,750 among 404,891 “D” headwords. Dominant gloss: "Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de défendre.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for défend, with forms such as "ddéfend", "defend", and "dféend". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "devenu", "défini", "détenu", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct French form is défend, spelled D-É-F-E-N-D.
Definition
- 1Troisième personne du singulier de l’indicatif présent de défendre.
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- ddéfend
- defend
- dféend
- déefnd
- défedn
- défendd
- défennd
- déffend
- défned
- édfend
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of défend - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of May 6, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "défend"?
What does "défend" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "défend"?
How do you pronounce "défend"?
What language does "défend" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Similar French words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "défend", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked French headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (10 here; floor ≥5).
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.